Bill Miller to head lobbying for Business Roundtable

William C. Miller Jr., one of Washington’s best-known lobbyists and political strategists for the business community, on Friday will be named the Business Roundtable’s senior vice president, overseeing outreach to Capitol Hill and the administration.

The BRT, headed by former Michigan governor John Engler, represents the chief executive officers of major U.S. companies, with over $6 trillion in annual revenues and more than 14 million employees.

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Miller moves to the Roundtable from the Brunswick Group, an international consulting firm he joined in November after 12 years at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, most recently as political director and senior vice president for political affairs and federal relations.

Engler, the BRT president, told POLITICO that Miller will help the organization strengthen its policy development.

“We ought to have more than an opinion,” Engler said. “We ought to be in a position to say, ‘Look, this is the kind of competitive tax code [or energy policy] we need to have if we’re going to win out there in the global marketplace.’ Not just saying we need things but, ‘Specifically here’s how to fix the problems.’

“It doesn’t mean we’re always going to get our way,” the former governor continued. “But the CEO voice is going to be important in the debate” in the lame-deck session and in 2013, which Engler said will be “a barn-burner” on Capitol Hill, with debates over infrastructure, tax reform and long-term entitlement reform.

Thomas J. Donohue, president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber, said: “Bill Miller is a hard working guy, full of enthusiasm. While at the Chamber, Bill was very engaged in a significant expansion of our grassroots and political activities. Bill knows the town and knows the key people, and is a very good addition for the Business Roundtable.”

Before joining the Chamber in 1999, Miller served as chief of staff to former Rep. Constance A. Morella of Maryland, beginning in 1994. Miller has a B.A. degree from the University of Maryland and a law degree from American University.

The BRT says its member companies comprise nearly one-third of the total value of the U.S. stock market, and are responsible for nearly half of all private U.S. research-and-development spending.